The present invention relates generally to infant cribs, and more particularly, is directed to a structure for safely assembling a stationary side rail without tools in a secure and foolproof manner.
Generally, in cribs, one or both side rails are fixed or stationary. In some cribs, one side rail, called a drop side rail, can be slid vertically between an upper closed position and a lower open position to aid in the removal of the child from the crib or for placing the child in the crib. At a recent industry convention, it was proposed to make both side rails permanent and eliminate the drop side nature of one side rail entirely.
Generally, each stationary side rail is secured to the corner posts of the headboard or sideboard in any suitable manner, such as screws or the like. This, however, becomes burdensome for the consumer to assemble the stationary side rail. Alternatively, the stationary rail can be secured to the corner posts of the headboard and footboard in the manner disclosed in applicant's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/862,919, filed Sep. 27, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition, in conventional structures, in order to disassemble the crib for storage, screws must be removed and can get lost. Also, the federal standard requires that the screws need to be machine screws, and not wood screws. However, machine screws tend to loosen over time as the child shakes the crib and jumps in the crib.
It is therefore desirable to provide a safe, secure and foolproof way of assembling the stationary side rails, without the use of any tools.